BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean diet has been associated with lower mortality and lower risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Although its components have been analysed in several studies, only one study has specifically investigated the association between Mediterranean diet and risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and reported no association. METHODS: Data on 1721 patients with incident RA (cases) and 3667 controls, matched on age, gender and residential area, from the Swedish epidemiological investigation of RA (EIRA), a population-based case-control study, were analysed using conditional logistic regression...

Introduction: In this study, we examined the role of immunological factors on sudden sensory neural hearing loss (SSNHL). Materials and Methods: This prospective case-controlled study was performed in patients with SSNHL who referred to the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) ward. Fifty-six patients with SSNHLoccurring within a 72-hr period were selected as the case group and 56 participants who had no recent history of disease were assigned to the control group. Mean levels of immunological factors including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) (C, P), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), DSM, hemoglobin (Hb), complement component 3 (C3), and complement component 4 (C4) were evaluated in the blood samples in each group...

Purpose: Citrullination is a post-translational modification (PTM) that serves many normal physiological functions. Studies have shown that this PTM-along with expression of the catalyzing enzymes, peptidyl arginine deiminases (PADs)-are increased in autoimmune and age-related pathologies. PAD2 retinal expression has been previously documented in rat and human. Herein, we report on the expression levels and patterns of PAD2, PAD4, and retinal citrullination in the murine retina with age...

Effective management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) depends on early identification followed by timely invention and proper monitoring of treatment responses which remain challenges facing rheumatologists for lacking biomarkers of high sensitivity and specificity. 14-3-3η has been reported to be a novel RA-related biomarker inducing the expression of multiple factors mediating the pathogenesis of RA, and increasing the diagnostic capture when combined with rheumatoid factor and anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody...

We propose curcumin as a preventive measure to avoid/manage periodontitis (PD), and as a natural immunosuppressant for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). PD, mainly caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis forming biofilm and leading to tooth decay, is a major public health issue and a risk factor for the development of RA in humans. P. gingivalis is able to trigger experimental autoimmune arthritis in animal models and in humans can induce citrullinated peptides, which not only are a source of anti-citrullinated antibodies (ACPAs), but also participate in autoreactive responses and disease development...

The production of anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPAs) requires the participation of both innate immunity and adaptive immunity. On the one hand, activated innate immunity is able to produce citrullinated auto-antigens that fuel autoimmunity and provide an inflammatory environment that facilitates the breach of self-tolerance, proliferation of self-reactive T/B cells and the production of ACPAs. On the other hand, after their production by plasma B cells, ACPAs are also able to interact with innate immunity to exacerbate the manifestation and chronicity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...

We thank Sharma et al. and Cardona-Ospina et al. for sharing their experience and discussion. One of the limitations of our evaluation of the cohort was that we have not yet determined the incidence of rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in all 485 patients. This will be a valuable assessment to perform. However, RF and anti-CCP antibodies were measured in a subset of chikungunya arthritis patients1 and no CHIKV arthritis patients had elevated anti-CCP antibodies, 9% had IgM-RF antibodies, and 12% had IgG-RF antibodies...

We thank Gérardin et. al., for sharing their thoughts on potential mechanisms that might contribute to the pathogenesis of chikungunya arthritis. Although, we did not observe anti-citrullinated cyclic peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in our cohort, post-translational modifications including citrullination, carbamylation, and malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde are emerging as having important clinical and mechanistic significance in rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, one can postulate these modifications may have clinical and mechanistic significance in the context of viral-induced arthritis as well and further research into these mechanisms in chikungunya arthritis is needed...

Felty syndrome(FS) is an uncommon, but severe, extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It occurs in patients with longstanding RA. It is extremely rare for RA to present as FS or develop after initially presenting as neutropaenia and splenomegaly. We describe a case of 47-year-old woman who was diagnosed simultaneously with FS and possible RA after testing positive for anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, but a negative rheumatoid factor. She had an excellent response to methotrexate...

BACKGROUND: Anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) reactivities precede clinical onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and it has been suggested that ACPA reactivities towards distinct target proteins may be associated with differences in RA phenotypes. We aimed to assess the prevalence of baseline ACPA reactivities in an inception cohort of patients with early RA, and to investigate their associations with disease activity, treatment response, ultrasound findings and radiographic damage...

The expanding array of drugs available for treating rheumatoid arthritis is creating challenges in drug selection for the individual patient. The identification of biomarkers that predict the treatment response prior to drug exposure is therefore a current priority. This new approach, known as theranostics, is a component of personalized medicine, which involves selecting the management strategies that are most effective for a given patient at a given point in time. Antibodies to citrullinated peptides, rheumatoid factor, and the interferon signature are the most robust and best validated biomarkers identified to date...

In recent years several antibodies against citrullinated peptides (ACPAs) have been identified in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their pathogenic, diagnostic and prognostic significance is under intense investigation. Among ACPAs, those targeting citrullinated alpha enolase (anti-CEP1) have been identified in RA but data about their ability to predict the development of erosive disease are conflicting. Furthermore, no data are currently available concerning their possible association with extra-articular manifestations (EAMs) in RA...

BACKGROUND: Anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) autoantibodies have been identified as myositis-specific autoantibodies that are often associated with clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) and a poor prognosis due to rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) in East Asian patients. Besides anti-MDA5 autoantibodies, patients with CADM may have myositis-associated autoantibodies (MAAs), which characterize other connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome...

CONTEXT: - Anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies are important serologic markers for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Several kinds of test reagents for automated immunoassay systems have been developed and used in recent years. OBJECTIVE: - To evaluate the analytic and diagnostic performance of the new ADVIA Centaur anticyclic citrullinated peptide assay (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany) compared with the Elecsys assay (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany)...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review is to provide an update on the current understanding of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) development related to disease development prior to the onset clinically apparent synovitis and opportunities for disease prevention. RECENT FINDINGS: A growing number of studies have demonstrated that serum elevations of autoantibodies rheumatoid factor and antibodies to citrullinated protein/peptide antigens (ACPA) are highly predictive of future development of IA/RA...